In the new book, Beyond: Our Future in Space author Chris Impey describes early German V2 rockets as “screaming out of the sky at four times the speed of sound.”

Does anything strike you odd about the description?

With a little reflection, it is obvious that a rocket traveling at four times the speed of sound wouldn’t “scream.” Rather, it would reach its destination in silence. The sound–a sonic boom–would only arrive later after the explosion itself.

In many ways, this is what the future will sound like. It’ll arrive without sound.